1. Shoaib Khan complained to the Independent Press Standards
Organisation that The Daily Telegraph had published an article, headlined
“Terrorists behind ‘China 9/11’ massacre on trial”, on 12 September 2014, that
raised a breach of Clause 1 (Accuracy) of the Editors’ Code of Practice.

2. The complainant expressed concern that the newspaper had
stated as fact that those appearing in court charged with carrying out a
railway station massacre were guilty. He said that by calling the accused
“terrorists” and “masterminds” when there had been no indication of a guilty
plea, the newspaper had potentially prejudiced the trial and had misled
readers.

3. The newspaper said that headlines must be read in context
with articles as a whole. In this instance, the article made clear that the
defendants were on trial for allegedly masterminding a train station massacre;
it was absolutely clear that the trial was on-going.

Relevant Code Provisions

4. Clause 1 (Accuracy)

i) The Press must take care not to publish inaccurate, misleading
or distorted information, including pictures.

ii) A significant inaccuracy, misleading statement or
distortion once recognised must be corrected, promptly and with due prominence,
and - where appropriate - an apology published. In cases involving the
Regulator, prominence should be agreed with the Regulator in advance.

Mediated outcome

5. The complaint was not resolved through direct
correspondence between the parties. IPSO therefore instigated an investigation
into the matter.

6. The newspaper offered to make amendments to the headline
and standfirst of the article, which had been published online only, to
specifically refer to the fact the individuals were accused or suspected of the
crime.

7. The complainant confirmed that the amendments would
resolve the matter to his satisfaction.

8. As the complaint was successfully mediated, the
Complaints Committee did not make a determination as to whether there had been
any breach of the Code.

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